Professor Uju Anya of the Department of Modern Languages, Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, has come under fire on Twitter over her comments following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
Twitter has removed a series of tweets written by the professor who was mocking Queen Elizabeth II just hours before her death, prompting thousands of people including Jeff Bezos to slam her for her words.
She sparked outrage after calling the ailing Queen the head of a ‘thieving, raping, genocidal empire’.
Writing shortly before the Queen’s death was announced, Anya said she hoped the Monarch’s final hours of pain ‘be excruciating.’
Anya wrote: ‘I heard the chief monarch of a thieving raping genocidal empire is finally dying. May her pain be excruciating.
‘If anyone expects me to express anything but disdain for the monarch who supervised a government that sponsored the genocide that massacred and displaced half my family and the consequences of which those alive today are still trying to overcome, you can keep wishing upon a star.
‘That wretched woman and her bloodthirsty throne have f* generations of my ancestors on both sides of the family, and she supervised a government that sponsored the genocide my parents and siblings survived. May she die in agony.’
Twitter later removed the posts for violating their rules.
Her Majesty died yesterday at the age of 96. She passed away surrounded by members of the Royal Family at Balmoral Castle, Scotland.
Anya’s vile words about the Queen were slammed by thousands online, including billionaire Bezos.
Jeff Bezos said: ‘This is someone supposedly working to make the world better? I don’t think so. Wow.’
Journalist Piers Morgan also added: ‘You vile disgusting moron.’
One horrified user said: ‘Don’t expect that of you but do expect common decency, respect for such a loss. If you cannot give that at this time, you are a disgraceful of a human being.’
Reacting, The management of U.S. institution Carnegie Mellon University has distanced the educational centre from the offensive tweets of Uju Anya, a professor in the school’s department of modern languages who described the late Queen Elizabeth II as a “wretched woman” and a “genocidal colonizer”, saying that it does “not condone the offensive and objectionable messages”.
“We do not condone the offensive and objectionable messages posted by Uju Anya today on her personal social media account. Freedom of expression is core to the mission of higher education, however, the views she shared absolutely do not represent the values of the institution, nor the standards of discourse we seek to foster,” Carnegie Mellon University tweeted Thursday.
Online commenters have since swarmed to the reply section of the university’s tweet, calling for termination of Anya’s appointment, stressing the condemnation would not suffice. They clamoured that disciplinary measures must be taken against the professor.
Twitter user @DavidWohl said: “So this vile hatemonger will remain a fully tenured professor getting paid her full salary with no disciplinary measures taken, no suspension, nothing. In case you were considering sending your kids to this degenerate university.”
Twitter user also said @InterestedObs13: “Freedom of expression is critical but the viciousness of the tweet does not reflect a considered and rational opinion by a thoughtful leader. Anger and spite like this lessens the legitimacy of the argument and ultimately the reputation of the person conveying it.”
Another user @kristi_mccall was more explicit: “If you don’t fire her, you’re condoning it.”
Also on Twitter @chefjohnny84 wrote: “Then fire her. Terminate her contract. This woman shouldn’t be teaching anyone anything. She should be taught history, not filling the world with hatred.”
Some Twitter users also tweeted in the defence of Anya. A user @MarkOsuchukwu said: “She spoke on behalf of millions of dead Igbo people who lost their lives during the Biafran genocide. Her choice of words can be faulted but she said nothing but the truth.”
Another user @llamalaikum said: “What part of what she said isn’t true?”
@egwuatulam also tweeted: “can someone point to me ANYTHING remotely positive that the queen of England (or England itself) did for Nigeria/Nigerians that you people should celebrate her? are these not the same people who’ve had their hands digged deep in the coffers of Nigeria (for generations)?”
@YaaAsantewaaBa said: “Reminder that Queen Elizabeth is not a remnant of colonial times. She was an active participant in colonialism. She actively tried to stop independence movements & she tried to keep newly independent colonies from leaving the commonwealth. The evil she did was enough.”
